Hamstring muscles are group of three muscles behind the thigh, include biceps femoris (long head), semimembranosus, and semitendinosus. Their action is to flex the knee and extend the hip.
When stretching hamstrings, If you’re feeling a stretch and slight pain in your calf and/or foot, it is most likely coming from the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve, the largest and longest nerve in the body, branches from the lumbosacral plexus and goes down behind thigh, calf and the foot. Nerves can't be stretched- they glide within soft tissue (muscles, fascia, tendon). When there are restrictions in soft tissue, nerves don't glide and slide as they are supposed to. This can cause symptoms of numbness and tingling, and pain along the nerve and nearby area.
This stretch helps:
Lie on your back, place a strap band or a long towel under the foot. If your buttocks are coming off the floor, place a towel under low back to support. Hold the stretch with your knee as straight as possible, begin to point and flex your toes up to 1 min. This is also good for ankle mobility, and charlie's horse cramp.
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